Tears were running down my cheeks now too.
“Why didn’t you just tell me any of this?” I said.
“Because I didn’t want you to believe your blindness had ruined my life.”
I shook my head slowly.
“Ashton,” I said. “That’s exactly what I started believing.”
He looked up.
“Every time you sighed when I asked you for something,” I said, “I felt guilty. Every time you came home late, every time you walked out in the backyard to take a phone call, I thought, he’s tired of me. I’m a burden. He’s stuck with me. Every single time you got upset, I lay awake wondering if you still loved me.”
His eyes filled up again.
“Sutton,” he said. “I never stopped loving you. Not for one single day.”
I pointed at the divorce papers on the coffee table.
“Then what are those?”
He took a long, shaky breath.
“Rebecca told me I needed to be honest with myself,” he said. “About what I needed. About what my choices actually were. She said I couldn’t keep living like I was trapped, because that was making everything worse. She said I needed to understand that I wasn’t trapped. That I had options. So I’d stop feeling like the walls were closing in.”
“So you went to a divorce lawyer.”
“Once,” he said. “One time. In July. A guy downtown. I sat in his office for an hour, and he asked me a hundred questions, and he had his assistant type that thing up. He told me to take it home and think about it.”
“And my settlement?”
He leaned forward.
“Sutton. The lawyer put it in there because it’s his job to list everything. Every account. Every asset. That’s what they do. That’s all it is.”
“It’s in your divorce papers, Ashton.”
“I know. And I told him, right there in his office, I said I’m not touching that money. Not one dollar. That money is for her eyes. That money is hers. He said it would most likely be treated as yours anyway, because of what it was for, but he still had to write it down. I didn’t care what he had to write down. I told him I’d never ask for it. I’d sign anything that said so.”
He looked straight at me.
“You can call Walter Brandt tomorrow and ask him if I’ve ever once touched that account. I haven’t. I never would.”
Lila Hart is a dedicated Digital Archivist and Research Specialist with a keen eye for preserving and curating meaningful content. At TheArchivists, she specializes in organizing and managing digital archives, ensuring that valuable stories and historical moments are accessible for generations to come.
Lila earned her degree in History and Archival Studies from the University of Edinburgh, where she cultivated her passion for documenting the past and preserving cultural heritage. Her expertise lies in combining traditional archival techniques with modern digital tools, allowing her to create comprehensive and engaging collections that resonate with audiences worldwide.
At TheArchivists, Lila is known for her meticulous attention to detail and her ability to uncover hidden gems within extensive archives. Her work is praised for its depth, authenticity, and contribution to the preservation of knowledge in the digital age.
Driven by a commitment to preserving stories that matter, Lila is passionate about exploring the intersection of history and technology. Her goal is to ensure that every piece of content she handles reflects the richness of human experiences and remains a source of inspiration for years to come.